


Other Options

by Dazzledfirestar



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Mild Language, Recruitment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-17 06:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1377646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dazzledfirestar/pseuds/Dazzledfirestar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was good. As far as Nick was concerned, all he needed was the right environment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Other Options

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my [character table](http://dazzledfirestar.dreamwidth.org/147681.html) for avengers_tables on LJ, prompt: orders.

The kid was good. There was no denying that. SHIELD had been monitoring him for a long time already. He was just that good. Even the COs that put him in his current situation were willing to admit that. Good; great even but not worth the effort to bring him in line. That’s what they said. Not worth the effort. Nick had heard that before. More than he cared to admit, really. About himself and a shit load of the people he called friends. People he trusted and knew would have his back. He knew the look on the kid’s face. Barton had heard ‘he’s not worth it’ plenty of times before and it was starting to seep in.

Somebody needed to get in there and tell Clint Barton that those people were wrong.

Sure, he had a chip on his shoulder. Sure he didn’t want to follow orders—Nick had a theory that the orders he’d flat out refused were probably tactically wrong and Barton knew it—and lipped off COs and fellow recruits much more often than the Army generally appreciated. Sure he was arrogant as fuck about his abilities. But that shot… that was worth it. Nick was already running numbers on how to get Barton on board when he opened the door.

“Apparently you have an attitude problem, Private.”

Barton’s head came up and he squinted at Nick for a moment, obviously taking his measure. “That’s what they tell me.”

“Also the best damn shot anyone around here has ever seen.”

“They told me that too.”

“Where’d you learn to do that?”

“The circus.”

It sounded like a smart ass brush off, but Nick new better. “Yeah, World’s Greatest Marksmen. The Amazing Hawkeye.” He flipped absently through the first file in the small pile he was holding. “Must have been a hell of a show. Why leave? Why join the Army?”

“My brother. Went AWOL last year.”

“So why not go with him?”

Barton shrugged. Nick figured that part of the story was probably pretty vital but he wasn’t the one to tease it out. He hadn’t earned it yet, at least according to Barton’s sudden shift in position. He got defensive about the brother. Nick noted it and moved on. If things went well, there’d be plenty of time for Barton to deal with whatever was going on there. 

“How about this reluctance to follow orders?”

“Just orders that would fuck up my shot.” His eyes narrowed again. “Sir.” He made the word sound more like ‘fuck you asshole’ than most people could manage and that was saying something given Nick’s circle of friends and colleagues. Then Barton sighed and ran a hand over his face, obviously tired of saying the same thing to a bunch of superior officers that just weren’t listening. 

Either way, Barton went into the story on autopilot. He’d told it enough to not really have any emotional attachment to it anymore. “I was ordered to set up on a rooftop with no cover and a clear line of sight from just about anywhere that would land firmly on my ass. I told my CO so and maybe I overdid in on that front. A little.” Nick nodded, reviewing the file on Barton. He’d called his CO fucking useless, brain dead. Told him he was trying to sabotage the mission and if he didn’t have his head so far up his own ass, he’d listen. Frankly, Nick appreciated that. Apparently Sgt. Lowell didn’t. “He didn’t take it well.”

Nick nodded along with the story, voicing the logical conclusion. “So you go to the brig instead.”

“Better than bleeding out on a dirty rooftop because of a dumb call.”

“Fair enough.” Nick finally took a seat across from him and put the files in his hands down on the table. “What if there’s another option?”

“There isn’t.”

“But what if there was?”

Barton studied him again, not even trying to hide that he was doing it either. Nick appreciated that too. Clearly the kid wasn’t going to tolerate bullshit. At least not the kind of bullshit that could be spotted. “I’d have to know what it was before I signed on.”

“Smart answer.” Nick slid the second file over the table toward Barton. “You’ve got a skill set that should be put to use by people who will let you do what you do best. People that won’t get in the way. People that aren’t fucking idiots.”

“Sounds good.”

“Take a look at that.” Nick tapped the file in front of Barton. It was a brief history lesson, mission statement; all the stuff somebody would want to know about SHIELD before signing on. “I can wait.”

And he did as Barton flipped through the pages. He didn’t say much, only occasionally asking questions about the information in front of him. His lips thinned for a second before he closed the file, his choices playing out behind his eyes. “Still have somebody giving me a target.”

“Of course.” Nick shrugged. “But you get a say in how it goes down. I went through your file, Barton. You’ve got a talent for this. Not just the shot, but knowing how to lay it all out. Knowing what will work and what won’t for what you have to do. You know better than we do what you need to do a job.”

Barton nodded as he considered that for a minute. There was a brief flash of something like pride in his eyes before he spoke again. “Sounds better than here.”

“That’s what I thought.” Nick stood, collecting the files. “We’ll have you out of here by tonight. You’ll be escorted to the hotel near base and the paperwork for your transfer will be waiting for you.”

“Still gotta follow orders though.” Barton smirked. It was a good sign. Nick firmly believed that given the right handler and the right jobs, Barton would flourish in SHIELD. And he knew he wasn’t often wrong about that kind of thing.

Nick chuckled. “Only the good ones. Otherwise, you talk to me and we’ll sort it out.” He turned toward the door and had his hand on the door knob when Barton spoke again.

“Hey!” Barton nodded to him and shrugged one shoulder as if he wasn’t quite sure what level of smartass to pull out of the bag in that moment. Nick turned back to face him and waited. What came out did and didn’t surprise him. After all, Barton knew Nick knew a ton of shit about him already. It only seemed logical to try to balance the scales, even just a little. “You got a name, sir?”

“Nick Fury.” He smiled and turned back toward the door. “Welcome to SHIELD, Hawkeye.”


End file.
